Core Needle 6/4 & Mastectomy Consult 6/24

Moderators, 

Thank you so very much for welcoming me. I know that in the coming months, I will have loads of questions, be a bucket of nerves and the reality will set in that I am going to undergo such a drastic life-saving surgery. I haven't done too much research yet, I saw before and after results and was very impressed with the nipple/skin sparing mastectomy with reconstruction.....and know that I will have to have expanders placed in along with drains, and then go back 8 weeks later to get the implants. I know the basics but have yet to search how people felt after.....I am a bit nervous, but know that my risk of breast cancer being gone and seeing my children grow up is AMAZING, and I try to keep that goal in mind. 

I don't do well with surgery, and with my rectocele surgery last year (bowel prolapse) I had a terrible time and repeatedly became hospitalized.....blood loss was a huge factor and I was a mess. I pray it's NOT as bad as my time back then last March of 2013. I will grow the courage to read up on everyone's surgery results and hopefully get as many answers questioned that I may have.  

Thank you again for being wonderful. I am glad I finally joined. 

Marie  June

Thank you both for responding. I learned a lot from you both and appreciate you sharing your personal history and situations with me. 

Funny thing: I went in today, got registered, got my band placed on my hand, got walked into the room where they ask you questions (for the MRI) and was told, "we have to reschedule your appt" ?!?! I was shocked......I asked why, and she said they had "tried calling me" to tell me that I have protein in my urine and they need to have a blood test done to check my kidney function in order to give me the gandolinium (the medication for the MRI). So I went over to the lab, had my blood test done for kidney function, and am awaiting the results on that, since I am ALWAYS spilling protein and blood into my urine, maybe due to Lupus? But my kidney function always comes back fine....so I am sure they will be able to do the surgery again next week, as scheduled on Wednesday June 11th (day after my 34th birthday).......Hopefully next week there won't be any "surprises" and I can go through with the MRI guided core needle biopsy.  

So, nothing was done today, and I am going in Next week on Wednesday @ noon. 

Thank you, Blessings.

Sorry to hear about your husband. How is he doing with the kidney issues with leakage? I have had protein and blood in my urine for YEARS (since I was pregnant with my twins in 2006)...always assumed it was just due to my Systemic Lupus since my function tests always come back completely normal. I have had kidney infections several times per year since childhood, but each time I have been hospitalized, NO stones and it seems to be "fine" in their eyes. I am sure my tests will come back normal and I can go on to get my biopsy...they just want to be sure, since the gandolinium can't be used with kidney issues. 

It sure was annoying to go in and get that reply and no phone call, lol. I thankfully shrugged it off quickly, had my ride bring me home a few hours later after enjoying the rest of my day, and was thankful that IF something WAS wrong, at least they are being thorough. I've had well over 30 CT scans in my life (not allowed to have anymore, most of those were with the contrast), I am certainly OVER radiated- the hospitals here do CT scans for EVERYTHING when I am in the ER, so now for any kind of contrast, I am on the "NEED TO CHECK" list prior to getting anything done, and thank God they checked first. It's a little obnoxious how they are so quick to radiate and I never knew how bad it is for my body, lol. I am hoping if I glow a neon color, it will be PINK?  

Thank you for your kind words. I will definitely update you when I am finished on Wednesday.  

Marie

Wolfslady, 

Thank you for the big hug! I received it all the way here! LOL. (((((((HUGS))))) to you too. Thank you for your kind words. 

I've had ultrasounds and mammos since August 2011, and NOTHING has showed up. The ultrasound I had at that  time didn't show my lump, but when I went in for the wide excision lumpectomy to remove the entire lump along with surrounding tissue, they did an ultrasound before the surgery, not thinking it would show up, but they could feel it and it was very hard (when touched), and easy to locate....and amazingly, they saw it a little bit (enough to figure out that in a month it had grown and had a tiny stalk on it) but they had to press hard and squeeze my breast to find it....now my lump is HUGE, coming out of my entire side of my breast, you can SEE it visibly, yet it won't show up?! How crazy are our breasts?! I never knew I was that dense....LOL. Good to know though.....the lump I have now is very large. The MRI is picking up "displacement of tissue" etc....yet STILL not showing exactly what it is, since it's somehow deeper under my tissue than the last lump. I'm not going to get another wide excision again this time, I will just determine that it's NOT cancerous, and I DON'T need treatment if it IS, and am able to go ahead with my mastectomy with reconstruction....no more worrying about all of these tests and biopsies. It really wears on my mind. And I need my colon removed and need to have my bowel prolapse repaired (for the 2nd time since last March of 2013, the surgeon messed up the first time and now I have a full pelvic prolapse thanks to him taking way too much skin during that surgery and really messing me up worse than beforehand). So I am definitely looking forward to getting this overwith so I can focus on my pain and suffering  from that whole mess. If it's not one thing, it's another, right? lol. I just have to laugh, and know that I am doing my best to live each day with happiness, despite my pain and I am making jokes in order to  remain optimistic during the times I AM feeling sick and unwell. It hasn't been easy, but I just focus on the good and let the bad go, without thinking about it too much. I live each day for its worth and let yesterday go.  

Thank you for writing to me. I will keep you updated with how I do afterwards, and especially with results. 

Hope you're doing well. Each of you are so kind and caring. I am so glad I joined this site. God bless each of you. 

Marie 

Thank you sarahjane. 

I do have a lot on my plate.....I pray nightly and hope for the best for the next day, lol. It helps me to be here and surround myself with positive people who are in need of a lending shoulder to lean on. I am blessed to be on this earth and make sure to live each day as its my last, since no one is guaranteed. My days that have pain are spent with Pajama Nights with my kids and I make sure to still find the goodness in those days. It's easy to get upset, sad, and frustrated, but it seems to only put me in a lupus flare, so I have recently learned to live each day as it comes, and thank God each night I go to bed.  

Thank you for your gentle words. You ladies have honestly been such AMAZING women in my life right now. I didn't think I would get replies to posts, but you have all proven me otherwise. Thank you so very much for all of your kindness.  

Thank you, My dear friend. I had my biopsy already- and I am already having issues with bleeding (going through lots of gauze).....I am going to start a new thread, and see if I can get any insight from others. I do have a hematoma which they said will cause bruising, but they had a hard time stopping the bleeding, and it's bleeding like  crazy, even after I put on the pressure and also put more gauze on. I had steri strips which all fell off from being blood soaked, the sticky part just didn't stick....so now I am steri-strip-less and it continues to bleed! yikes. I really don't want to go back to the ER, but not sure..... I'm hoping it will stop but it's been since 3:30 when we got done, and I am still going pretty strong. Guess that's the bad part about being very thin-blooded and I also have a bleeding disorder in which I continue to bleed out. 

I also have LOTS of pain- my nipple, and entire left breast is very painful.  I took tylenol like suggested, but it's not helping. They got TEN great biopsies though!! From one hole, they were able to grab as many pieces as they could (and told me that one looked like hyperplasia, one looked very bizarre and they couldn't identify it- my surgeon said he's baffled and looking forward to figuring this one out, and also told me they will STAT the results and I dont have to wait for 1-2 weeks, but ONLY wait until tomorrow or the next day. He said it's DEFINITELY NOT a fibroadenoma, and NOT a cyst, and NOT a regular benign lump because it has "ridges" along the edges of the lump,and this time on MRI it showed to be 25% larger than 2 weeks ago......I also have a new lump on the very top of my breast that's hard and immobile- he was unable to biopsy that one, but he will send the MRI results to pathology also and figure out what to do for that one, as it's too close to my chest wall to do much with it. They saw some lymph nodes swollen and told me to "prepare for the worst, but pray for the best" just in case those funky looking biopsies come back cancerous. I told him, I've BEEN prepared. I have been so sick and ready to find out once and for all what this is inside me. I can FEEL the swollen lymph nodes, so I knew those were there.....it's just a matter of figuring out what the entire left side of my outer breast lump is......some hard parts, some rubbery parts, but very rigid around most of the edges. I have confused another surgeon with my breast!! lol. Didn't think that was manageable.....but I managed to do it AGAIN 2 years later. 

The bleeding is something awful.......I am soaking through gauze every 15 minutes and praying it STOPS! I dont have a vehicle, so I would have to spend $40 for a cab to and from the hospital. Not even sure what they could do for me?! If I can't get it to stop and I was a medical assistant, then what would they do? Grrrr.........issues always arise with me. :-/

I will start a new post about my "odd" things happening. Wanted to thank you for the birthday wishes and update you on my MRI guided biopsy which was minor pain, mostly discomfort from laying a certain way for my little size B breast to be in the left side of the MRI machine and NOT my right.....LOL. I had to be at a slant so they could close me in and press the grid against it, and then close the other side to lock it in and make me immobile.....it took 3 1/2 hours from start to finish. I got wheeled back in and back out of the machine for about 9-10 times- but he was VERY thorough and made sure to take TEN samples to send to pathology! Talk about an awesome surgeon! He truly thanked me for telling him that I have a VERY solid lump on my left side, and showed him where, then he saw it on MRI and made sure to take 3 samples from it and get most of it out.....excellent surgeon he is! He realized how solid and rock hard that lump was when he went in and couldn't get it, and had to use force to poke through it. That's how my last lump was when it had cancer inside it. We shall see......I could only pray to be so lucky as last time when it hadnt spread. I got hugs, "good jobs" and "best of luck to you" as I walked out from the MRI radiologist and Nurse and surgeon. They were amazing!! It was painful laying on the hard plates that go on my breast bone, but I dealt with it, and they numbed me up extra much!  

Hi SarahJane. 

Yesterday's core needle biopsy went great!! Afterwards, it was a MESS....kept on bleeding, as you read on my other post.  I ended up going to the ER and they cauterized the biopsy wound. It stung like crazy, and now it's blistered and brownish-tan all around with little bubbles....It looks terrible. But....the good news: IT STOPPED BLEEDING. It was squirting out....so nasty! Each time I put pressure on it, there was a bubbling sound and a Tsssss noise and I looked and I was soaking through gauze! So much for placing pressure, when there's a huge blood clot underneath the wound! Ugh. I was super dizzy by the time I was able to make it to the ER, but at least I got my IV, some fluids, and just a few pain pills to tide me over for the night and today. I can handle the pain now, seems like it was the blood clot causing me so much agony. When it would bleed, it felt like rocks were being pushed around in my breast- probably because it was just filling up again. It's very tender, but at least it's feeling MUCH better. No bruising...That will be a MIRACLE if it stays that way. Last 3 biopsies, I bruised horribly. This time, with the MRI guided core needle biopsy, NO bruising? If I wasn't getting the mastectomy and reconstruction, I would certainly choose the MRI core needle EVERY time! Uncomfortable to lay down with my bony chest breast bone against the plastic bars (in between the squares) but SO much better than hand-guided! And knowing they got TEN great samples to send to pathology makes me confident that IF I DO happen to have the big C, I will be handled appropriately.  

I have to update my other post now, not sure if others posted, but I took some great advice after hearing it was NOT normal to bleed that much and went to the er. Great women are on this site. So glad I joined. 

Thank you for asking about how I'm doing. You're a great friend. ((((((HUGS))))

Marie Mello